Review: The pen that's mightier than the (written & spoken) word

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 18 August 2009 08:55

Opinion and Analysis

I have to confess I have not been game to use these. I'd feel like real dork supposedly listening and taking notes while appearing to all the world as if I'm listening to my MP3 player! According to Livescribe, this type of recording provides the most accurate spatial sound quality because the microphones effectively mimic your ears. "When you play a binaural recording back, it sounds like you are actually in the location where the sound was recorded."

The other aspect of the Pulse Smartpen that is really cool is the way it uses the Anoto technology for its user interface. There is only one button - to turn the pen on and off - and a short one line digital display. Every other function is controlled by touching the pen on to the appropriate place on a page of Anoto paper.

So for example there is a section for setting date, for starting and stopping recording, for jumping forwards or backwards during playback, for turning the volume up and down. There is even a full-function scientific calculator: just a printed replica of a keypad, all the processing power is in the pen and the answer pops up on the display. All you do is briefly touch the pen on each printed calculator 'key'.

The Livescribe Pulse Smartpen is just one of many devices produced by companies that have licensed the Anoto technology: there is a similar product designed to work with BlackBerries, one for Microsoft Office and one that is designed to display handwritten notes on an electronic whiteboard.

What I didn't see on the Anoto web site was anything that simply uses the Anoto technology to provide a super user-friendly user interface, in the way the Pulse Smartpen does. The technology could control any external device via a suitable interface just as easily as it controls the internal voice recorder on the Smartpen.

Just imagine if, instead of having a user manual with complex instructions for a complex piece of equipment, that equipment came with an attached Anoto pen and to set and configure the equipment you simply touched the pen on the appropriate part of the instruction manual.

Such a solution would be a real godsend to consumers baffled by every more complex consumer electronics but might prove prohibitive costly in that market where intense price competition is the order of the day. No such barriers would exist in the market for medical, industrial and scientific equipment which is becoming ever more complex and requires operators that have to be trained at considerable expense.

The Pulse Smartpen comes in 1GB and 2GB versions retailing at $249 and $329 respectively and with a claimed recording capacity of up to 100 and 200 hours. In the box also is an A4 100 sheet pad of the Anoto paper, ear/microphones and a USB cradle for charging and upload - you simply lay the pen in the cradle, a magnet holds it in position and contacts on the side of the pen mate up with those in the cradle.

Replacement paper is not surprisingly rather more costly than your normal paper, but still reasonable. A pack of four 100 sheet spiral bound A4 pads will set you back $34.95 and notebooks are available in a variety of sizes and bindings. Full details at www.livescribe.com .